23 September 2008: The Plight of Child Soldiers in Chad

Of all the victims of armed conflicts, children are the most vulnerable. According to the Coalition to Stop The Use of Child Soldiers more than 500,000 children have been recruited into state and non-state armed groups in over 85 countries worldwide. Chad is just one of the African countries in which children as young as 12 years of age, both male and female, have been subject to recruitment.

Human Rights Watch has observed the use of child soldiers in self-defense forces even at village level. Most of these children are forcibly recruited, from refugee camps, schools or through abductions. Child soldiers serve numerous roles as cooks, messengers or spies and even participate in armed combat on the frontline, where they are often used as human shields. Some child soldiers join up because they seek revenge for their family members who have been killed by militia and or rebel groups. However, it is very difficult to say that these children join willingly, mainly because of their vulnerability, lack of other options, insecurity and armed violence, illiteracy and poverty, to mention only a few.

The issue of child soldiers goes to the very heart of the question: what kind of future do we envisage for the coming generations? A report from the United Nations office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicates that many of these children grow up physically and psychologically scarred and prone to violence, increasing the danger of future cycles of conflict and damaging the chances of peaceful, stable democracy that are demonstrably linked to human and social well-being. In view of this it is imperative to stop such exploitation, abuse and use of children.

Nearly 50 years after gaining independence from France, Chad has been plagued by civil conflict owing to the fragmentation of politics along ethnic and cultural lines. Power has never peacefully changed hands and has come about as a result of coup d’états save for the appointment of the first President Francois Tombalbaye after independence. The current President IdrissDéby seized power in a 1990 coup. He has maintained a measure of control over Chad’s volatile political environment by appointing members of his Zaghawa ethnic group to key positions in government and the armed forces. Déby however, failed to establish a democracy and has come under fierce opposition from the various rebel groups, some which enjoy the support of the Sudanese government. It is interesting to note that some of the rebel groups have been formed by Déby himself in order to weaken opposition groups. This strategy appears to be working owing to distrust and suspicion among these political groups. The Front Uni pour le Changement (United Front for Change, FUC), rebel group is made up primarily of ethnic Tama fighters. The Socle pour le Changement, l’Unité et la Démocratie (Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy, SCUD) and its offshoot the Rassemblement des Forces Démocratiques (Rally of Democratic Forces, RaFD), is both made up of mostly Zaghawa deserters from the Chadian government and armed forces, including BideyatZaghawa sub clan leaders and members of Déby’s immediate family. As a result, this volatile political climate allows for the continued recruitment of child soldiers.

In May 2007, the government of Chad signed an agreement with UNICEF to demobilize all children from the Chadian National Army (ANT), however little effort has been made in this regard. Rather more use and forced recruitment of child soldiers is still taking place. Interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch with ANT officials revealed that Chadian military personnel seek to actively exclude children from the demobilization process. Children are considered cheap labour and are more reliable in that they do not complain and they do as they are told without asking questions. The FUC, despite signing a peace agreement with the government to integrate its forces into the national army, have also been actively recruiting child soldiers in both northern Chad and along the eastern border with Sudan’s Darfur region. The Sudanese rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Janjaweed have been recruiting likewise. Relations between Chad and Sudan have soured recently and there has been a lot of fighting between rebels from the two neighbouring countries. While serving in these groups underage children adopt adult behaviour in excess such as smoking, drinking alcohol and are subjected to brutal initiation and punishment rituals, hard labour, cruel training regimes and torture. In such instances one is tempted to agree with the well-known American psychiatrist Karl Menninger when he states that “what is done to children, they will do to society.”

It is difficult to quantify the number of child soldiers as many of these children come from rural areas and have not had their births registered. Serious human rights violations and abuses have been perpetrated against these children including rape and sexual abuse, leaving them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Many a times these crimes have been reported but the responsible authorities have been unable or unwilling to protect children from such acts. The government needs to take this issue seriously. Full cooperation with the UN, the criminalization of recruitment and use of child soldiers as well as the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers needs to become a matter of priority and the government needs to act now. The regional and international community has been instrumental in pushing the government of Chad to demobilize child soldiers. UN Secretary –General Ban Ki-moon has reiterated that “ending grave violations against children will not be possible unless significant progress is made in the political dimension…” The government of Chad needs to fulfill its obligations in terms of international law.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child contains specific provisions for the protection of children under 15 years from recruitment into armies. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child also forbids member states to recruit or use children (under 18 years) in a participatory role in any acts of war or internal conflicts. The Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict(entry into force 2002) is regarded highly in that it specifically prohibits the use of child soldiers. Children need to be protected, the framework has been put in place and now it needs to be put in practice. All relevant stakeholders including communities at grass-roots level need to play a role in the integration of former child soldiers into society so as to build a better world for the future.

Elizabeth R Chitore, Intern, Security Sector Governance programme, ISS Pretoria Office